


It always comes back

by Beleriandings



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Big Finish special release: The Torchwood Archive, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:29:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28815657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beleriandings/pseuds/Beleriandings
Summary: After finding Object One, Suzie Costello travels to London to present it to Yvonne Hartman, who also has a proposition for her.
Relationships: Yvonne Hartman/Suzie Costello
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11
Collections: Torchwood Fan Fests: 2021 Femslash Fest





	It always comes back

**Author's Note:**

> This follows on from/is heavily based on something that happens in Big Finish's The Torchwood Archive special release, and contains spoilers for that. I've been meaning to write something like this since I heard the audio because these two interacting really grabbed my interest.  
> Written for Torchwood Fan Fest's Femslash Fest, for the prompt "minor character/rarepair". I think since the pairing tag did not exist before I wrote this fic, it's about as rare as you can get :'D

Today, Suzie thought, had been a very strange day. And given that she worked at Torchwood, that was saying something.

The thing was, this same morning Suzie had been going through the ruins of a burnt-out sex doll factory owned by a shady corporation in a small Welsh town with Jack, followed soon after by getting soaked in a rainstorm. Her hair hadn’t even had time to dry before she was ushered on board a hyperjet that took her to London, cruising impossibly fast over the Thames before dropping her off in a shiny-looking plaza amidst gleaming City of London skyscrapers, amongst which Canary Wharf – Torchwood One – took pride of place.

Now the very last of the Welsh rain was drying off her as she sat in Yvonne Hartman’s office, across the desk from the director herself, as her PA served them minute cups of expensive espresso. In fairness, it was very good espresso, Suzie thought as she took a sip, the young man stepping back into the corner, blank-faced and perfectly respectful.

Just for a moment, she saw his eyes go to the object on the table between Suzie and Yvonne, resting atop the torn plastic Lidl bag in which she’d brought it here. The reason for her visit, the thing Suzie and Jack had conspired very carefully to bring to London.

 _Object One_. Though Suzie didn’t know half of what it could do – not really – the thought of it still frightened her.

Which only made this all the more surreal, Suzie thought; she could be in the office of the CEO of any London bank, and it wouldn’t look appreciably different. Whereas she worked for the same organisation, and spent most of her time in a converted sewer in Cardiff, or chasing weevils in alleyways behind chip shops.

Maybe she really should consider the offer she knew Yvonne was going to make her she thought, wondering – certainly not for the first time – just what her loyalty to Jack was worth.

Meanwhile, Yvonne scrutinised her thoughtfully across the table. “I do hope you had a pleasant trip?” she said, taking a sip from her cup.

“Yes, thank you,” said Suzie, with a smile. “That jet certainly beats the bus.”

“I’m sure,” said Yvonne. “And I hope you’ll find everything else here to your liking too.”

“Very much so.”

“Excellent. And what about Jack Harkness?”

“None the wiser.”

Yvonne gave her a look. “I was going to ask how you find working under him.”

A turn of phrase Jack would probably find amusing, Suzie thought. “ _Oh_. Um… Jack’s... fine,” she said, shrugging. “Not… the most professional workplace environment, maybe...” Yvonne chuckled, and she smiled too. “...But… he brought me to Torchwood, showed me there was more to… well. _Everything_... than I thought. Made me understand what it’s really like out there. I suppose I owe him for that.”

Yvonne’s perfect eyebrow raised a fraction. “But…?”

“But.. oh _God_ , he’s a pain to work with sometimes. Always has to be the centre of attention. Says he cares about his employees, takes in sad strays, but does he pay any attention to them? Not as such, no. It’s all about him and his ego.”

“Which is exactly why you were able to slip under the radar and bring me this.” She indicated the object on the table, looking very pleased indeed. “You didn’t have too much trouble, I hope?”

“No, it was no problem,” said Suzie, hiding her smile with utmost care. “Once Jack trusts someone, he’s very easily led. Not to mention easily distracted.”

“You’ve put that to use before today,” guessed Yvonne.

“Of course,” said Suzie, maintaining eye contact. That, at least, was the truth. “My general philosophy is that a little of what Jack doesn’t know won’t kill him.”

“That’s for certain, at least,” said Yvonne, with a smirk that made Suzie wonder if she knew more than she was saying; what exactly had been her past dealings with Jack? It didn’t matter, though.

“Well,” said Yvonne brightly, clasping her hands and breaking Suzie out of her thoughts. “That’s more than enough talk about Jack for one evening, I think.” She extended a hand – she had small but elegantly-shaped hands, Suzie couldn’t help but note, short, neat nails painted in flawless dark red – and reached out for the object on the table, picking it up by the chain and inspecting it, its reflected circle of light playing across her face for a brief moment. Her eyes looked almost hungry, Suzie thought, setting off a flare of… something, deep in her stomach.

A moment later, those eyes flicked back up to look at Suzie herself, green gaze pinning her in place in her chair. Even sitting down across a desk, Yvonne Hartman held herself with a sort of power and bearing that Suzie knew came from entitlement; this was the sort of woman who had spent her life believing unequivocally that the world and everything in it was hers for the taking.

“You’ve done good work today, Miss Costello,” said Yvonne, a little lower. “Suzie… can I call you Suzie? We like to use first names, here at Torchwood One.”

Suzie nodded. “Of course.”

Yvonne smiled, laying the locket back down and sitting forward a little in her seat. “Ianto, dear,” she said, gaze going over to her PA; Suzie found herself blinking, as she realised she’d almost forgotten he was there, her eyes drawn solely to Yvonne for the last few minutes. “Leave us, will you please?”

He nodded, blinking rapidly a few times. Suzie watched as his eyes slid to the silver locket on the table; she wondered if he knew what it really was. She suspected not. “Would you like me to… take that down to acquisitions and have it processed?”

“No, thank you Ianto,” said Yvonne, with a slight, knowing smile. “Much as I know you’d like the excuse to go and pay dear Lisa a visit, I’ll keep it for now. But oh, _do_ treat yourself to the rest of the evening off…” her tone was indulgent, but nevertheless contained a firm and clear dismissal. “I’ve got a lot to discuss with Suzie here. I shouldn’t think I’ll need you for the rest of tonight.”

“Oh, well… if you’re sure there’s nothing else–”

“No, thank you Ianto. That’ll be all.”

With a hasty nod – and another at Suzie – he made a quick exit from the room, leaving them alone.

“So,” said Yvonne, turning her full attention back on Suzie. “As I was saying...” she stood up and came around the table, sitting herself on its corner beside Suzie. Suzie swallowed, as she stared at the way Yvonne’s jacket shifted; from this angle, it was hard to see what she was wearing underneath, and it was very… low cut. Yvonne leaned down and picked up the locket from the table once more, taking it and undoing the clasp, putting it around her neck. Suzie’s eyes were drawn to it, glinting silver in the dip between her breasts.

She only realised she was staring as Yvonne reached out, taking Suzie’s chin in her hand and pointedly drawing her face up to her eyeline again. Suzie felt her face heat, the place where Yvonne’s hand touched her skin burning.

Yvonne held her gaze for a moment more, before she chuckled, mouth turning up at the corner. “Now,” she said, other hand going to briefly touch the locket around her neck, “that the more formal portion of our business is concluded…”

Suzie didn’t let her continue, putting down her coffee cup on the saucer with a clack and standing up in her chair, so they were eye to eye. “If you’re trying to convince me you lot have got more professionalism than Jack Harkness...”

“Oh, we have, most of the time,” said Yvonne smoothly. “No. I told you, our business is over. What happens now, is strictly informal networking.” She gestured out the window, where it was growing dark, the lights of London beginning to twinkle below them as the very last of a bloody sunset lit the sky. “After hours,” she said.

“I wasn’t aware that Torchwood usually kept a nine to five schedule,” said Suzie, leaning in.

“We don’t.”

“Should I be demanding Jack pay me overtime?”

“If you’d like an argument, maybe.” Yvonne met her eye. “But come now, do you really want to spend all night talking about Jack Harkness?”

Suzie held her gaze. “Absolutely not.”

And with that, Suzie leaned in and kissed her, hard and demanding. Yvonne responded in kind, taking Suzie’s hand by the wrist and putting it on her chest, over the locket; the metal felt cool beneath her fingers, taking the heat of their skin less than silver should.

She broke off the kiss, drew back with a grin. “On the phone, before,” she said. “You said you wanted to talk about my future career potential...”

“I’d prefer to show you.”

Suzie smiled, hungry lust curling up inside her as she her hand rested over the locket for a moment, before grasping the lapel of Yvonne’s jacket. “Go on then. Show me.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth, before Yvonne was turning them both around, getting up off the desk and pinning Suzie backwards against it. Her thigh pressed up between Suzie’s, and Suzie couldn’t help but grind down against her knee, her own hand going to Yvonne’s thigh, slipping up to the hem of her pencil skirt.

“ _Ah-ah_ ,” said Yvonne, tutting and shaking her head. She was pressing against Suzie, pinning her backwards. Making it clear that Yvonne was in control, here.

Well, Suzie would see about that. Still, for now she bided her time, letting Yvonne pin her there.

By the time Yvonne was undoing her belt, Suzie barely had time to consciously wonder whether Jack had sent her here knowing exactly how this would play out, before all such thoughts left her mind entirely and she fully surrendered herself to it.

Yvonne’s hands were as clever as the rest of her, Suzie soon found out; she found herself gasping, her back arching at an uncomfortable angle over the desk with her legs spread open wantonly, as Yvonne fingered her. She kicked off her shoes to be able to fully pull off her jeans, so she could spread herself even wider, and Yvonne laughed, softly. “My, my,” she said. “That didn’t take much convincing at all.”

Suzie growled softly in her throat, reaching a hand up to pull Yvonne’s head down in a bruising kiss, honey-coloured waves of hair brushing Suzie’s face and neck softly.

Yvonne kissed her back, but drew away too soon. With a sidelong smile, she straightened up and went around the other side of her desk, back perfectly straight and her hips swinging just a little as her high heels clacked against the floor. Suzie gritted her teeth, impatient. “What are you – _oh_.”

Her eyes widened, as Yvonne pulled an object out of the desk drawer; a long, silver dildo, and a harness. Suzie’s mouth went dry at the sight.

Yvonne smiled. “One of the things I’ve learned in this job? One must always be prepared for every eventuality.”

Suzie let out her breath, gritting her teeth as Yvonne came around and pushed her back up against the desk so she was half sitting on it, the edge of it digging in slightly against the backs of her bare thighs. It didn’t take long for Yvonne to prepare herself – efficient in this as in all other things – but as she was pulling on the harness and securing the plastic cock in place, she kept up a constant circular motion, rubbing at Suzie’s clit, until by the time she was done Suzie was hopelessly wet in her hand.

Suzie felt weak at the knees already; normally, by this stage, she’d have been more comfortable if she’d had a bit more control herself, but this time, all she could do was let Yvonne proceed with her plan, going to pieces under the skillful fingers working her up, and up and up.

Finally, Yvonne chuckled, placing her hand flat and drawing a finger softly – teasingly – along the folds of her, coming away sopping.

“Ready?” she asked, arching her eyebrow maddeningly.

“Yes! Fuck me already!” snapped Suzie, impatient, without the presence of mind to care that she was being bratty about it. Outside the window the sun had finally set, but Suzie barely even noticed the glimmering vista of the London skyline before her over Yvonne’s shoulder. Instead she gasped, as Yvonne placed the head of the dildo just so, before pushing inside her.

Yvonne fucked her as she did everything, with utmost skill and purpose. Suzie’s grasped at the wood of the desk, upsetting the empty cup and saucer that she’d forgotten was beside her with a clatter as Yvonne thrust into her. All the while, Yvonne’s thumb never let up the pressure on Suzie’s clit, circling on and on and driving her into a gasping, shuddering orgasm before long. But still Yvonne didn’t let up, didn’t stop driving into her and Suzie found herself coming again, and again.

By the time Yvonne pulled out of her she was an overstimulated mess, grinding her teeth and feeling quite empty and wrung out as Yvonne drew back.

But Suzie wasn’t done. With quick, defiant hands, she removed the harness from Yvonne, who let her do it with that same smile, indulgent and ever-so-slightly mocking.

Suzie grabbed her by the chain of the locket around her neck and turned her around, pressing her back towards that wide window – with the Torchwood logo emblazoned on it behind her – and dropping to her knees in front of Yvonne. Her skirt and underwear were already off, so from the waist down she had only her high heels, her ankles trembling just slightly as Suzie plunged her face between Yvonne’s thighs with defiance, making Yvonne groan and tremble with satisfaction against her. Suzie sucked her clit into her mouth, merciless, and only stuttered a little in her rhythm as she felt Yvonne’s hand slip into Suzie’s hair and twist up a handful of it, the last of the dampness from the rain dried away by the heat of the room.

Afterwards, they were mostly silent as they got dressed again, setting themselves to rights; Suzie felt rather disheveled, but Yvonne seemed to have returned smoothly to her normal state of easy composure, tutting slightly as she contemplated the faint handprint smudges on the glass. Still, she didn’t comment, merely unclipping the chain from around her neck, putting it into a secure containment box that she had also extracted from under her desk.

“Well,” said Yvonne smoothly, as though nothing had happened. “All in a good day’s work, I have to say.” She tapped the top of the box smartly with her index finger. “I’ll have Ianto take this for archiving in the morning.”

“And me?” said Suzie, incredulously. “What about me?”

“Oh, yes,” said Yvonne, giving her another of those indulgent smiles. “I can arrange for another hyperjet to take you back to Cardiff as soon as you like. But… well. Now you’ve had a glimpse of how we do things around here… you don’t have to leave, you know. It’s my opinion that your… talents are wasted, working for a man like Jack Harkness.” Yvonne raised her eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you like to do something more… fulfilling?”

Suzie frowned. Suddenly, she envisioned herself staying here, working with Yvonne. She could leave behind her life in Cardiff, leave behind Jack and his stupid winks and smiles and the way he infuriated her at times, leave behind Owen and his foul moods that made her want to throw him the Bay, leave behind Tosh and the way she could be so quiet and insipid at times. Yvonne wasn’t being inspirational when she implied that Suzie could prosper here; she was being factual.

It was so unlike her life back in Cardiff, was the thing. God knew, Jack didn’t have an office of bright glass or access to jet travel at a moment’s notice or an obedient PA; in fact usually he palmed off a lot of the boring busy-work on Suzie, as his second in command. Here, she wouldn’t have to worry about any of it. She’d have people she could talk to, too, a whole building’s worth of them rather than just Jack, Owen and Tosh. She could forget about her old life in Wales, come here and become so much more, while still keeping her knowledge of the stars, of what was out there.

But the more Suzie thought about it, the more the idea made her tired; yes, she could stay here. But what would she be then? Another piece of Yvonne’s collection, sitting neatly on display in her glass display cabinet of a skyscraper, that contained all the wonders of the universe in captivity? Suzie balked at the mere prospect. At least in Cardiff, she could go down to the archives whenever she was feeling frustrated and take things apart, and if she borrowed a piece of alien technology now and then, well… no one paid her much attention. Tosh and Owen did it too, she knew, and Jack trusted her too much to believe she could disobey him. Despite her frustrations with her life in Cardiff, she knew that if she came to this steel and glass cage it would chafe at her even worse than Cardiff did.

And there was Yvonne. Suzie had seen enough – more than enough – by now to know exactly what kind of woman she was. The kind who wouldn’t stand for insubordination, the kind who would need to control her, absolutely.

And if there was one thing Suzie wouldn’t stand for, it was that.

And so, she shook her head. “No,” she said. “No, I’m afraid not.”

Yvonne blinked, arching her eyebrow. “I must say I’m surprised. And disappointed, frankly. ...We have a new spatial disturbance project coming up soon, top secret of course, and with your experience studying the Rift I was going to fast track you into it...”

Suzie gave her a smile, pleasant but firm. She got the impression that Yvonne was very much unused to people saying no to her, which only helped cement her choice. “I’ll keep that in mind for future,” she said.

Yvonne stared at her for a mere moment more, before sighing. “Well, if you’re certain. I’ll have your jet arranged presently.”

In the next few months, she found herself wondering incessantly whether she’d made the right choice. It was only when she was picking through the blood-soaked ruins of Canary Wharf that she started to wonder: about Object One, the Bad Penny, that seemed to always come back and bring destruction in its wake.

She was still wondering it when Ianto Jones arrived at Torchwood Three, and wasn’t that a coincidence? Or maybe not such a coincidence, she thought as she saw the looks that Jack gave him, and remembered the words he’d overheard her telling Yvonne about Jack.

But that was really none of Suzie’s business, nor did she care particularly.

For better or for worse her choices had already been made, and like a bad penny, would come back soon enough.


End file.
